MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's men's soccer team had much to celebrate during its post-match Senior Day recognitions at Saturday's regular-season home finale.
 
The Rams clinched a berth in the Midwest Conference Tournament and stayed even with Knox atop the standings with a resounding 4-1 victory over postseason hopeful Lawrence.
 
Cornell (13-3 overall) scored four unanswered goals over the final 60 minutes and improved to 6-1 in MWC play with one match remaining next weekend at Beloit (1-4 MWC).
 
Knox also moved to 6-1 in the MWC with its 2-0 win over Lake Forest. The Prairie Fire, who won the head-to-head meeting with the Rams, finish at Illinois College (2-4) on Wednesday.
 
The Rams charged back from an early 1-0 deficit against the Vikings (7-9 overall, 4-2 MWC). Junior Cian McNamara converted a penalty kick in the 30th minute to tie it at 1-1, which stood going into halftime.
 
Cornell broke it open with three goals in the second half, two from Zach Miller who now has a team-high 11 on the season. Miller delivered the go-ahead score in the 48th minute, putting the Rams ahead 2-1.
 
Mardoche Ntonku stretched the margin to 3-1 on a penalty kick at the 80-minute mark. Miller capped the scoring with an assisted goal from Aria Dehshid with seven seconds left in regulation.
 
The Rams outshot Lawrence by a convincing 17-6 margin with nine of Cornell's attempts coming after intermission. Goalkeeper Will Bickel earned the complete-game win, notching three saves.   
 
Cornell's 13th victory is one shy of the single-season school record set by the 2018 team (14-3-2). The Rams play at Beloit at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 30. The MWC Tournament is Nov. 5-6 at the No. 1 seed.